1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing large reclosable packages or bags, wherein the reclosable packages are placed onto a conveyor belt with a constant center-to-center distance for the application of reclosable zippers thereon.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art of reclosable packages or bags and the manufacture thereof is well-developed and satisfactory for its intended purposes. In particular, large reclosable packages and the methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/728,477 entitled “High Burst Zipper Assembly for Large Reclosable Packages”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/728,405 entitled “Method of Producing High Burst Zipper Assemblies for Large Reclosable Packages” and application Ser. No. 11/728,413 entitled “Hot-melt Adhesive Systems for Zipper Assemblies on Large Bag Constructions of Various Substrates”, all filed on Mar. 26, 2007.
However, further improvements are always sought, particularly with respect to the loading of the large reclosable packages or bags onto a conveyor belt so as to achieve a constant center-to-center spacing in preparation for the subsequent placing of reclosable zipper profiles onto the packages or bags. In the prior art, this has been done using a variable speed gearbox and a dynamic conveyor nip. However, it has been found that the use of variable speed gearboxes in this regard has led to deficiencies in accuracy.